The International Lawyer - ABA General Library

Bridging the Gap: Public Health in International Investment Agreements

Climate-Related Disclosures: A Comparative Analysis Between Securities Frameworks in the U.S. and E.U.

Stablecoin Regulation in Hong Kong: Recent Developments and Critical Evaluations

Towards Cashless Society: International Digital Money Competition and Regulatory Implication

This paper analyses the rise of digital money and mobile payment systems across the world. Money is at the heart of any financial system. Over the past two decades, both public and private sectors have proposed to create their own digital currency for the future economy. The creation of various digital currencies showcases the breadth and depth of global Fintech revolution and its far-reaching impact on commercial transactions and legal practices. Policymakers in several countries put forward the official initiative of building a cashless society, when digital money quickly replacing banknotes, coins, and cards as the default option of making payment for consumers and businesses. Against this background, the paper discusses the operating mechanisms, benefits, and limitations of three generations of digital money: blockchain-based cryptocurrencies (e.g., Bitcoin and Ethereum), stablecoins (e.g., Tether and Diem), as well as central bank digital currencies or CBDCs (e.g., Digital Euro, Digital Yuan, and Digital Dollar). It also assesses popular mobile payment systems (e.g., Apple Pay, Android Pay, Alipay, and WeChat Pay) and identifies the legal and regulatory challenges presented by digital money. The paper will be of interests to international financial lawyers, academics, students, and policymakers who deal with Fintech and digital economy

Specificity, Enforceability, and Stickiness of Contracts

Long and specific contracts in the US and short and ambiguous contracts in Japan are a stereotypical comparison of the contracting practices in both countries. Such characteristics of written contracts are understood as sticky. Based on a semi-structured interview of Japanese auto and electronics industries, this article demonstrates such understandings are not necessarily erroneous but superficial

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Law, Rights & Ethics

The Culture of Forum Shopping in the United States

A key goal of any civil-justice system is to allocate cases to courts in sensible and efficient ways. Most systems exhibit allocative rules that rigidly and substantially limit party choice among forums. Not so in the United States. This paper details the unique landscape of forum shopping in American courts along three dimensions: vertical shopping between federal and state court, horizontal shopping among states, and individual shopping for particular judges. It describes the legal, structural, and cultural foundations that enable and even encourage forum shopping in the United States, especially as contrasted with other countries. It then explains and assesses its persistence in American litigation culture today

No Time Like the Past: Preventive Damages in International Law

The Forced Labor Revolution in U.S. International Trade Law

What should the relationship be between the promotion of labor rights and the importation of foreign-origin merchandise? Specifically, should America allow into its customs territory imports made with forced labor? The conventional answer, evidenced by U.S. international trade law since 1930, has been a reasonably tight ban on such products. But allegations of genocide orchestrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang underscored bipartisan concern that the Section 307 ban needed tightening. The legislative response—the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, enacted on December 23, 2021, and effective June 21, 2022—did that, and more, by creating a rebuttable presumption that any item manufactured in whole or in part in Xinjiang, or by a company connected thereto, the UFLPA revolutionized U.S. international trade law. Simply put, the UFLPA is a dramatic change evincing a newfound American commitment to root out labor rights degradations from cross-border supply chains

Avoiding Water Wars: Water Allocation, Use, Ownership, and Sharing on the Rio Grande